Remembering Aunt Dor

Today I am going to my Aunt Dorothy's funeral, and I am sad.  My sadness is the deep-down, shake you to the core kind of sadness.  I'm sad because she is gone, but sadder because so many, many people will miss her sincere compassion and love.  I can honestly say she was one of the best people I have ever known.  I can't recall a cross word or a bitter comment.  Her life was filled with love, faith and smiles...countless cheery bright-eyed smiles.  When I think of Aunt Dor, I can't do it without thinking of her smile first and her hug second.  Her hug was always an extended one, often given with a rub of the shoulder and always with her cheek against mine.

As I remembered Aunt Dor at her wake yesterday I was filled with a deep sense of nostalgia, and loved soaking in the stories others told about her.  I heard someone wistfully say, "she had so many friends."  It was impossible not to be her friend because she was a friend to every person and dog that she ever met...except for Lilly Corse...she didn't like Lilly.  My dad told me that McDonald's, her long-time employer, had posted signs on the door notifying customers of Aunt Dorothy's services, and several of her co-workers stopped in in their uniforms to say goodbye.  I was introduced to her friend Marie who told me, "Dorothy adopted me because I am a widow and she wanted to know I was safe."  My dad told me that she was his biggest supporter and he wondered what he was going to do without her.  I laughed with my cousins in several of those laugh-because-I-can't-cry-anymore moments.  Aunt Therese and I marveled at how things seem to fall apart when you least expect it...

But then I hugged Uncle Ed and while I marveled at his courage and strength, he reminded me that her work here must have been done and that God had called her home.  Those are words that I've heard so many times that they often seem cliche...but last night they were so, so true.  I could write pages about how she has touched our lives and the holes she will leave behind.  Yet, her work was remarkable in its simplicity, and it was all done with the purest heart and the kindest soul.  She simply loved every person she met and did everything she could to bring joy to the lives of those around her.  So, now I am off to celebrate the life of Aunt Dorothy and the lasting legacy she has passed to those she has loved, but I'll have to do it with a fistful of tissue and tears in my eyes, because today I am sad.